I consider myself very fortunate to live in this part of the country as other people have to save money and plan vacations just to experience this. Meanwhile, I wake up to this every morning as part of my daily routine…I jump out of bed, put on my flipflops, leash my dog and walk 5 minutes to the beach to greet the sunrise. Each morning may not be as dreamy as this but watching the sun rise from the horizon is quite a liberating experience. To live near the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is like living in a dream…and moving here is probably one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. My encounter with the sunrise every morning rejuvinates and at the same time excites me…and thankfully, my ever reliable iPhone is always in my pocket ready to capture the promise of another beautiful day.

Flying is for me one of the most exciting aspects of travelling. I love the thrill of the takeoff from the powerful vibration of the aircraft to the ferocious rumble of its engine. I always sit by the window to watch everything speed by until the aircraft touches the sky and everything below looks like a miniature toy set. During my vacation last month, my flight’s takeoff schedule coincided with the sunrise so that got me excited hoping to capture a few interesting shots. As soon as I got a glimpse of the sun I started snapping with my iPhone 7 Plus and framed the wing as an additional focal point to my composition. I also included my home city of Fort Lauderdale below for a sense of height. The rich golden yellow light of the sun casting shadows all over also created a multidimensional effect on the clouds. One technique I do when using my phone on a plane is to press the phone flat on the window to prevent reflections. Here are four photos I took as my plane soared over the Atlantic Ocean on it’s way to my vacation destination.

My home state of Florida is under major threat from massive Hurricane Irma, which is probably one of the strongest storms in the Caribbean basin. I will be in my condo building by the beach hunkering the storm and should the winds get too strong, the stairwell will be my refuge for a few hours. Having grown up in the Philippines, I’ve had my fill of hurricanes or typhoons as we call it on that side of the planet. However, Hurricane Irma will be my first Category 5 so I’m bracing myself for some crazy and scary experience.

Since I am in the middle of a hurricane experience, I reckon the photo above is the most appropriate to post today. This photo was taken a month ago at the beach area of the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort and Spa where I was lounging at the poolside to take advantage of my club membership. I saw these ominous looking clouds rolling from the west and hurriedly pulled out my iPhone 7 Plus to capture as many photos as I can. I actually submitted this photo to The Weather Channel’s It’s Amazing Out There Photo Contest and I hope it gets recognized. Announcement of winners is on Monday, September 11, 2017 while I’m hunkering from the wrath of Irma. I sure do hope that by the time the storm passes, good news will be waiting for me from The Weather Channel.

I have been on creative hibernation for more than a month now thus the absence of new posts on this page. Apparently, I’ve been struggling to find the right words to effectively describe my photos and it seems like the year ended and so did my writing skills. To my defense, I did mention in my profile that I am not much of a writer so I hope you guys understand. Anyway, I am giving myself, my photography and this page another chance, which is why I decided to use this photograph I took of the sunrise somewhere in the Atlantic as my feature photo for this post. Sunrises mean new beginnings so I thought the photo best represents my return to this page. I’m back and looking forward to hearing from you all again!

It was my first Transatlantic cruise and I was prepared for a rollercoaster ride in the Atlantic Ocean on board Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas. The trip took 13 nights from Barcelona, Spain to Fort Lauderdale, Florida with only two stops…Palma de Mallorca and Malaga. A friend cautioned me that during her crossing last year, she experienced 25-foot waves so I had my prayers ready. I was a little bit confident though knowing that I was on the largest cruise ship in the world…although, we all knew what happened the last time somebody bragged about being the largest ship in the world. To my amazement, we had the smoothest sailing with the ocean so calm it felt like we were crossing a lake. Being in the middle of the ocean, my only photo opportunities were sunrises and sunsets aside from taking photos of the ship. One morning, I decided to wake up earlier than usual to witness the sunrise from my balcony. I was astounded by the fiery glow of the cloudy skies that I thought we got transported to an enchanted sea and was waiting for a pirate ship to appear from out of nowhere. I grabbed my iPhone and snapped this photo before the lights could change as the sun rose higher and higher. This happened during the fifth day of our cruise and was never duplicated again. I tried waking up early to catch the sunrise but we never had one as beautiful as this. Thankfully, I woke up that day just in time to witness and capture that beautiful moment.

The full moon last Saturday (May 21,2016) was called the Blue Moon being the third of four full moons this Spring. Each season has three full moons but every two to three years, a season may have four making it a special and rare occurence thus the phrase “once in a blue moon”. Apparently this year, the full moon in the month of June is about 11 hours earlier than the start of Summer making it the fourth full moon for Spring. So when I heard about this on the news I knew very well that I had to photograph this moon. I drove to the beach with hesitation because it was raining that afternoon and the sky was partly cloudy. I was expecting a disappointment, however, the moon found its way out of the clouds to greet me. It was an amazing experience standing in an almost deserted beach watching the full moon slowly float up from the horizon. I will have to wait for another two to three years to witness this celestial show again.

It’s day three of the cruise and we are still in the middle of the ocean, although, the captain promised we will be docking in San Juan, Puerto Rico in three hours. I woke up this morning noticing dozens of sea birds flying alongside the cruise ship but did not see any island from my balcony. I immediately grabbed my camera and started taking photos of the birds in front of me when I noticed this lone sea bird (I did some research and found out this is a Masked Booby and not a seagull) flying so low right alongside the ship. I decided to focus my camera on it and tried to capture a shot like it was surfin’ the waves created by the ship. I realized this bird must be hunting for its next meal and it is pretty awesome to see the determination in its eyes…almost hawklike…very fierce!

As the sun rises from the horizon each morning, it brings us the new hope of a better day filled with new opportunities and new adventures. With the new year just a few days old, we ponder on what’s in store for us and at the same time make resolutions to make better decisions this year. I am therefore posting this photo I took in South Beach of the sun rising from the Atlantic Ocean to represent the new year and the great things that awaits us. This man happened to be fishing and I thought it would be interesting to include him in my photo composition. They say that in life it’s the early bird who catches the worm…hope he was able to catch a lot of fishes. LOL! Every morning, life blesses us with a brand new set of opportunities…I hope this year will be generous to each one of us!

Living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is like being on vacation year round with the beach just a short drive away…in my case, 10 minutes. I am not a beach person so the ocean being so close didn’t really matter much to me when I first moved here from Miami (home of the world famous South Beach). However, every now and then I take the time to drive down to the beach to enjoy the salty breeze and the spectacular view. This morning was one of those days (happens about two to three times a year) when I felt the need to see the ocean. Thankfully, the beach wasn’t crowded so I got to take a few decent shots minus the crazy crowds. Fort Lauderdale Beach was once popular amongst university students coming here for Spring Break. Today the city host visitors from all over the world who wants to enjoy some Florida sunshine minus the chaotic vibe of South Beach in Miami.